Farms struck by swine fever to have access to €5 million support

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Latvian pig farmers will have access to a fund pool of €5m to deal with the consequences of the African Swine Fever (ASF) that has caused great losses to the farmers since it appeared in Latgale last year, Biruta Ingiļāvičute of the Agriculture Ministry told BNS.

The total funding available for the package included in the Agriculture Ministry's Rural development plan is €5 mln, of which €3.4 mln will come from the EU Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, while €1.6 mln will be allocated from the state budget.

"The support is for softening the consequences of infectious diseases of animals and plant quarantine. Only pig farmers can apply for the funding as of now, as ASF has been detected in the country. The support package will help the pig farmers return to growth and to implement prophylactic measures," said Ingiļāvičute.

Pig farmers will be able to cover the costs of fences, disinfection pits and other protective measures. If farmers apply individually, up to 80% can be funded, while groups of farmers can receive funding of up to 100%. 

While the farms that suffered from ASF will be able to cover 100% of the expenses for purchasing new pigs or other breeds of animals. Farmers will be able to apply starting August 20.

The pig farming niche has been in dire straits due to the Russian embargo as well as the rapid spread of ASF.

Last year strict bio-sanitary measures were imposed upon domestic pig farmers and enforced by the PVD with support from local police authorities. The state-of-emergency zones gradually extended from border regions of Latgale into northeast and central Vidzeme almost all the way to the Riga suburbs, which checked the spread of ASF among domestic pig farms, where the last confirmed case was reported last September.

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